Gaara's Birthday
by ArmorOfDay
Summary: Gaara's never celebrated his birthday. He's never had a reason too. But a trip to Konoha and gift from a friend may change that. Yaoi.


Gaara sighed as he stargazed. His birthday was in 4 days. Most people would be excited about it, but he just felt depressed. His birthday was just another reminder of how alone he was. His mother had died the day he was born, cursing him with her last breath. The entire village, including his older brother and sister, feared and hated him.  
Gaara sighed again. It wasn't his fault his father had used a jutsu to seal a sand demon inside of him. It wasn't like he had asked for it, like he wanted it. But it hardly mattered to the villagers. To them, he was nothing more than a monster. In fact, everyone was so afraid of him, his own father had ordered him killed when he was 6. And his uncle, who Gaara had always thought was the one person who loved him, had been the first assassin sent.  
The sun was rising. Gaara stood up and stretched slightly. He hopped over the rooftops back to his apartment for breakfast. He may not sleep, but he still got hungry. He reached his destination and went inside. He entered the kitchen to find his sister waiting for him.  
"There you are Gaara," she said. "We have a new mission today. We're going to Konoha in a few hours."  
"A new mission? What kind?"  
"Not really sure. I think it might be more of a meeting. But either way, we have to go."  
"Alright then. I'll be ready Temari."  
Gaara packed quickly. He didn't need much. A few changes of clothes and his gourd of sand were all he really needed. A few hours later, he met up with Temari and his brother Kankuro and they left for Konoha, along with a few older jonins.  
The trip from Suna to Konoha took 3 days. They finally arrived and went to the Hokage Tower. The meeting wasn't all that important in Gaara's mind, just discussing some minute details of the treaty between the 2 villages. After the meeting Gaara went off on his own. No one cared.  
Gaara wandered around the village, eventually coming upon one of the training grounds. He heard some soft thuds and realized he wasn't the only person there. He went a little further and saw a figure clad in green spandex. Rock Lee. He was pounding away on a large wooden post, not even noticing Gaara come up behind him.  
Gaara watched Lee for a while, noting the sweat that trickled down his face. For some reason Gaara could feel his heartbeat increase, and he found he couldn't look away from the leaf ninja in front of him. Feeling a little uncomfortable, he cleared his throat, watching Lee start and spin around in surprise.  
"G-Gaara-san! How l-long have you b-been t-there?" Lee stammered.  
"Not long. I'm sorry I disturbed you. You were training?"  
"Y-yes, I was. And you didn't disturb me, really. It's nice to see you again Gaara-san," Lee said, smiling slightly.  
"It's nice to see you again too Lee," Gaara replied, a little surprised. Lee wasn't afraid of him? Didn't hate him? After what had happened at the chunin exams, Gaara felt sure that Lee had hated him.  
"Are you staying long?" Lee asked.  
"A few days I think. I'm not sure."  
"That's nice. Well, I'm hungry from my training. I'm going to go eat lunch," Lee declared. "Would you like to join me Gaara-san?"  
Gaara blinked, completely taken aback. Lee was asking him to join him for lunch? No one had ever offered something like that before. All his life, people had avoided him as much as possible. Now someone was being friendly, wanting to spend time with him. It was a new experience for Gaara.  
"I… I'd like that," he finally said quietly.  
Lee grinned broadly, and led the way back to town. They reached Ichimaru's Ramen Bar and entered. They sat down at the bar and made their orders. Lee ate his bowl fairly quickly and ordered another. Gaara, on the other hand, ate slowly. He had a lot on his mind. He didn't understand why Lee was being nice to him. His own family didn't treat him so kindly, why was Lee? And why did Gaara feel so flustered?  
He glanced at Lee out of the corner of his eye. He remembered how he hadn't been able to turn away when Lee was training earlier. His heart had been beating faster than normal and his pants had felt too tight. Gaara had never felt like that before. What could it mean? He wasn't used to dealing with emotions, other than anger, fear, and hate. This was something new.  
Lee finished his bowl and glanced over at Gaara. The leaf couldn't believe he had actually agreed to eat lunch with him. Lee had been sure the redhead would turn the invitation down. But instead he had surprised the leaf by saying yes. Not that Lee was complaining, not by a long shot. He was glad Gaara had come along. If he was totally honest with himself, he had always found Gaara extremely attractive. Even after the chunin exams and his disastrous fight against the sand ninja, he never hated the other boy. He couldn't hate him.  
Gaara finished his ramen and looked up to see Lee smiling at him. Not his goofy big grin; but a real, soft smile. The sight of it directed at him made Gaara's heart skip a beat. His pants started feeling too tight again, and he swallowed roughly. Lee's smile made him look very cute. Gaara couldn't believe he thought anything was cute, but there was no other word to describe Lee at this moment.  
"Well, I'm done," Lee said softly. "What about you Gaara-san?"  
"Y-Yes, I'm finished," Gaara said.  
"Great," Lee said. He stood up and stretched, wiping the last of the ramen off his mouth. He held out his hand to Gaara. "Why don't we take a walk together? There's not much else to do in the evenings."  
Gaara stared at Lee for a few minutes before hesitantly taking the offered hand. He could feel his face heat as the 2 boys walked out of the ramen bar. He quickly tried to hide it from Lee. Why was he blushing? He had never blushed before. The 2 of them weren't even doing anything. They were just holding hands as they walked around.  
Holding hands. Gaara remembered something. A few months ago, he had overheard Temari talking with Kankuro about a boy she liked. Gaara hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but Temari got loud when she was excited. Apparently, she and the boy had gone on a date to the movies, and mid-way through the boy had taken her hand. It seemed like holding hands was a big deal since Temari kept repeating that he held her hand over and over.  
Was that why he felt so nervous? Could it be that he liked Lee? And judging from the way his heart was racing, he liked him more than just a friend. Gaara wasn't used to dealing with emotion, but he wasn't dumb. He knew that there was more than one way to like someone. Could he be… falling in love?  
And what about Lee? What did he feel? He was being very nice to Gaara, but that didn't mean he felt the same way. He probably just thought of Gaara as a friend and nothing more. Gaara decided not to say anything about how he was feeling to the older boy. He didn't want to lose the only friend he had. The thought of Lee rejecting him and then never speaking to him again made Gaara feel extremely depressed.  
Lee glanced over at Gaara as they walked. The sand ninja was being very quiet. While that was completely normal for Gaara, Lee noticed that he had a sad look in his eyes. Lee wondered what he was thinking about that made him sad. Lee didn't like seeing Gaara unhappy. Most people would call him crazy, but Lee couldn't help but have feelings for the sullen redhead. The crush that he had once had on Sakura had been a passing thing. He had soon realized that she would never return his feelings, and had begun looking elsewhere for someone to be with. And the image of the sand ninja had started popping into his mind on a daily basis.  
Lee had been shocked at first and tried to deny it, burying the feelings deep down. But he just couldn't deny the fact that Gaara held a large part of his mind. No matter what he did, Lee couldn't get the redhead out of his thoughts. Eventually, he had simply faced the truth. He had fallen in love with Gaara. He had never told anyone about his feelings, and he wasn't about to. There was no way Gaara could feel the same for Lee as Lee did for Gaara. Lee didn't want to do anything that would scare the sand ninja off. He was content with just being friends, though it hurt inside to think that Gaara would never love him.  
It started to get dark. They had been walking for a long time. Gaara looked over at Lee. He knew that Lee had to sleep at night, but he didn't want the time they were sharing to end.  
"If you're not feeling tired," he began hesitantly. "Would you like to stargaze with me? You don't have to if you don't want to."  
"Stargaze? Sure, I-I'd love to," Lee said.  
He felt himself blush and was glad that Gaara was looking at the ground. He wasn't blushing too, was he? Was it possible… that Gaara did feel the same way? Lee's heart began to pound.  
The 2 boys climbed up to the roof of one of the buildings. The stars were just beginning to come out for the night. The lights of the village were slowly turning off one by one, and each light turned off made the stars seem brighter. Gaara glanced at the other boy, and carefully settled next to him. He wanted to be as close as he could get without the leaf getting upset and leaving.  
"My birthday's tomorrow," Gaara said, not knowing why. He had never cared about his birthday before. But maybe if he spent it with Lee, his birthday would be happy for once.  
"Really? That's nice," Lee said cheerfully. "You don't seem real excited about it though."  
"I'm not really. My birthday's never been a good thing," Gaara said softly. "I don't know why I brought it up. No one's ever acknowledged my birthday, except as the day a monster was born."  
"You're not a monster Gaara," Lee said firmly. He put his arm around the redhead's shoulders and drew him close.  
"How can you be so sure? After what I did to you at the chunin exams…" Gaara pulled away from Lee's embrace. "I nearly killed you that day. How can you be so forgiving? You should hate me. Everyone else does. Why don't you?"  
"Why should I hate you? You didn't ask for a demon to be sealed inside you." Lee wrapped his arms around Gaara and pulled him close again. "You're not a monster Gaara. You never were. What happened at the exams, that wasn't you. Not the real you."  
Gaara's heart felt like it was about to shatter. What should have been words of comfort were chipping away at the wall he had built around himself like daggers. Lee was so sweet, too sweet. Gaara just couldn't understand why the leaf was being so kind. Why didn't Lee hate him? He could feel his eyes grow hot and he struggled out of the arms holding him. He couldn't let Lee see him cry.  
"W-Wait! Gaara, come back!" Lee cried out as Gaara broke the leaf's hold. But the redhead ignored him. There was a whirl of sand, and he was gone.  
Lee sat down slowly. He was hurt and confused. Why did Gaara run away like that? Did he say something wrong? He decided to find Gaara tomorrow and talk to him. He just hoped that the sand ninja didn't avoid him. He couldn't lose him, he just couldn't.  
Gaara finally stopped running after passing the village gates. He sank to his knees, the tears running down his face. He had blown it with Lee, he just knew it. The boy had been so kind, and he had run away. Gaara put his face in his hands and sobbed. He had never felt so pathetic. The one person that had cared for him, the only friend he had, he had just shoved away. He should have seen this coming, shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. He had lost everyone else he had ever cared about. Why should this have been any different? Gaara felt like a fool. He curled up under a tree, and slowly cried himself to sleep.  
When Gaara woke up, it was morning. He found a stream to wash his face in, and stared at his reflection. He looked awful; his eyes were red and puffy, and his hair was mussed. And he felt even worse than he looked. He had lost Lee's friendship, and would spend another birthday alone. He scrubbed his face and felt a little better. Maybe he was over-reacting. Surely Lee didn't hate him now, he wasn't that sort of person. Gaara decided to find Lee and talk this out. He just hoped he hadn't lost the only friend he had.  
Lee was getting worried. Afternoon was giving way to evening, and there was no sign of Gaara. He was starting to feel a little desperate. He had to find Gaara and talk to him, let him know how he felt. But not finding the sand ninja meant that he was most likely avoiding him. Suddenly he spotted a patch of red hair on a rooftop. He had found him!  
Lee leaped up to the roof, only to see the redhead jump to another building. Gaara was running away from him again? Lee felt his heart sink as he jumped to the other roof just in time for Gaara to move to another one. But then Gaara glanced back at Lee, and the Lee realized that Gaara was leading him somewhere. Did he want to talk in private?  
The 2 hopped from roof to roof, heading toward the outskirts of the village. Finally, Gaara dropped down to the ground and stopped. He waited as Lee caught up with him. He slowly approached the leaf, a worried expression barely visible on his face.  
"I'm sorry I ran away yesterday," he said softly. "I was upset and I didn't want you to see."  
"It's alright," Lee said. "I understand. I'm glad you're here Gaara. I've been wanting to talk with you."  
"Really. I wanted to talk to you all day as well. But I couldn't find you."  
"I guess we were each looking in the wrong places," Lee said with a slight laugh.  
"I guess so. But we've found each other now," Gaara said seriously.  
Lee's smile faded a bit. Gaara's serious tone worried him a little. He hesitated, then decided to go for broke. He had to tell Gaara how he felt now. If he didn't, he never would. He stepped forward and embraced Gaara, holding the redhead close. He felt Gaara stiffen for a moment, but then he relaxed and slid his arms around the leaf's waist.  
"Gaara, I've been wanting to tell you this for a while now. But I never had the guts," Lee said, trying to hold down the nervousness he felt. "The truth is… I really like you a lot. And I don't mean as just a friend either. I-I think that I… love you."  
"You love me? Really?" Gaara asked, voice just above a whisper. "Why? How do you know that you love me?"  
"Well, it's a little hard to explain. But I'm always thinking of you, and being with you makes me happy," Lee said. "You're a wonderful guy Gaara. I think you're great."  
Gaara blushed at this, hiding his face in Lee's shirt. No one had ever told him he was wonderful. He smiled, his arms tightening around the older boy. Lee gently took Gaara's chin and turned his face up. The look in Lee's eyes made Gaara's heart start to race. He moved up as Lee leaned forward, their lips meeting in a tentative kiss. Gaara felt an electric shock go through him, and he stepped back with a gasp.  
"Wow. That was great," Lee said.  
Gaara didn't reply. He couldn't. That kiss – as small as it was, just a simple brush of the lips – had completely blown his mind. He absently touched his lips with his fingers. Lee's mouth against his own had left his lips tingling. He wanted more. Gaara snapped back to reality when Lee took his hand. He looked up, seeing a spark in the brown eyes that made his temperature soar.  
"It's getting dark out," Lee said. "Why don't we go to my place?"  
Gaara nodded, and the 2 of them made their way to Lee's apartment. When they got there, Lee guided Gaara up to the bedroom and shut the door. He then kissed the redhead firmly, arms holding him in place. Gaara gasped in surprise, and Lee took the opportunity to slip in tongue into his mouth.  
Lee moaned as he kissed Gaara. The sand ninja's mouth was burning hot and tasted so sweet. He slid his tongue against Gaara's, gently coaxing the boy into responding. Gaara was hesitant at first, but quickly gained confidence. He melted into Lee's embrace, pressing his hips into the other boy's.  
Lee broke off the kiss, gasping for breath. He maneuvered Gaara so he was lying on the bed face-up. Lee then began undressing the boy, fingers sliding against the creamy skin. Gaara's breath hitched. When had the room gotten so hot? He reached down and yanked off his pants and boxers, tossing them away. He then started tugging at Lee's suit. He wanted to feel more of Lee's skin against his own, and he wanted it now!  
Lee peeled off the spandex suit easily and plundered Gaara's mouth again. His hands explored the body under his, fingers lightly caressing the toned chest. He found a nipple and pinched it, receiving a moan in response. Lee smirked against Gaara's mouth. So the redhead liked that did he? He pinched and rolled the pink nubs until they were rock-hard. Gaara was moaning shamelessly, begging for more. He gripped Lee's hips and pulled them, pressing their groins together.  
Gaara soon decided that things were going a little too slow, and he rolled the 2 of them over. He ground his hips against Lee's, hearing the boy gasp. He reached down and grabbed the leaf's erection, stroking it hard. Lee cried out as Gaara slowly moved his thumb over the sensitive slit. Lee reached up and put 3 of his fingers in Gaara's mouth, who sucked eagerly. Lee removed his fingers and slowly trailed them down the redhead's torso, as Gaara bent down and started nipping along the older boy's neck.  
Lee reached Gaara's own erection and palmed it gently, the sand ninja hissing in pleasure. Lee went further and reached the tight ring of muscle that made up Gaara's entrance. Gaara let out a yelp of surprise as Lee pressed one of his fingers inside. He moved it in and out, searching for the boy's prostate. He added a second finger and wiggled them, streching out Gaara as gently as he could. He slid in the third finger, then pulled them all out. Gaara whimpered slightly at the loss, but stopped when Lee tugged on Gaara's hips, pulling him into position.  
Gaara lowered himself onto Lee's erection, biting his bottom lip. It hurt, putting Lee inside him, and he wasn't used to pain. But the feeling of discomfort was fading as Lee rocked his hips upward, pushing himself further into the redhead. Gaara moaned and pressed down, riding the leaf. He leaned forward and kissed Lee hard as their bodies ground against each other.  
Lee was beginning to feel light-headed. The sensation of Gaara's body surrounding him was overwhelming. He groaned as Gaara's tongue wrestled with his own. He reached down and took hold of the sand ninja's erection again, gently stroking it. Lee felt the redhead moan into his mouth before the kiss broke, Gaara gasping for air. Lee smirked and moved his hips faster, matching the pace with his hand.  
It was getting to be too much. The cock twitching inside his body, and the hand on his own; it was all too much. Gaara cried out when Lee found his prostate, melting against the leaf. Lee jabbed that spot again and again, over and over. Gaara moaned loudly as he snapped his hips down, meeting Lee's upward thrust. All too soon, he couldn't take it anymore and climaxed. The hot liquid squirting over Lee's hand, and the warm walls clamping down on his cock sent the leaf over the edge, and he filled Gaara with his own seed.  
Gaara collapsed on top of Lee, exhausted and feeling better than he ever had. He slowly pulled off the boy, and snuggled next to the warm body lying beside him. Gaara thought he couldn't get any happier, until Lee leaned over and whispered 3 little words into his ear.  
"Happy birthday Gaara."


End file.
